This invention relates to a process for preparing french fried potato strips for freezing and subsequent finish frying or oven reconstitution, and specifically to a process giving a pre-fried potato product with low oil content.
Frozen, pre-fried strips of potatoes have received substantial commercial acceptance and consumers of french fried potatoes from retail fast food establishments may now prefer the pre-fried, frozen and later finish fried product to french fried potatoes prepared directly from fresh potatoes. In no small measure this change in consumer acceptance can be attributed to the french fried potato product marketed by McDonald's System, Inc. That company is the assignee of Strong U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,993, for a process for preparing frozen french fried potato segments. There the potatoes after the preliminary steps of peeling, trimming, cutting and washing were blanched in hot water or steam to translucency, then dehydrated for a product weight loss of about 30 to 35%, fried in an oil bath for 15 to 60 seconds and then frozen. After delivery to the retail establishment, the frozen french fries were finish fried in hot oil at 300.degree. F. to 375.degree. F. for about 11/2 to 31/2 minutes, salted and served. The pre-frying stages of blanching the hydrating and frying in that process consume on the order of 9 to 30 minutes, best results being specified in the 15 to 20 minute range. There is no disclosure in that patent of controlling oil pick-up in the pre-frying stages.
The Wilder U.S. Pat. No. 3,649,305, issued Mar. 14, 1972, discloses a sequences of steps for preparing french fried potatoes with a color preservation step following the preliminary preparation steps. This was followed by dehydration of the french fried slices to reduce their gross weight from about 10 to 30%, followed by blanching with steam. Then the potatoes were fried in deep fat for a 30 to 90 second period. Then the french fried potato strips were frozen for finish frying in a retail establishment or the like. The dehydration, blanching, deep frying and oil treatment steps disclosed consumed about 16 minutes.
The Canadian patent No. 900,266 to Saunders, issued May 16, 1972, disclosed a french fried potato pre-frying process which, following the preliminary steps, provided a oil frying treatment step for a 30 to 90 second period at 250.degree. to 375.degree. F. This was followed by a dehydration step using air at 150.degree. to 350.degree. F. moving at 550 feet per minute for a period on the order of 9 minutes. Then followed a second oil frying step for a 30 to 90 second period. The overall effect was to reduce the weight of the french fried potato product from about 5% to about 20% of the weight of the original strips and to cause a concentration of solids on the surfaces for improved surface texture.
These prior art processes for preparing french fried potato strips gave a product containing from 8 to 10% of oil before finish frying after which, the oil content would fall in the 14 to 20% range.
The present invention concerns itself with a process for preparing french fried potatoes for freezing and subsequent final frying or oven reconstitution, which have a substantially lesser oil content of under 8% and in the favored range of from 3 to 6%. The processing time is relatively rapid, on the order of 8 to 11 minutes. Elimination of the water or steam blanching step and the associated problems of treatment of starch contaminated water is one of the advantages.